How To Love Your Enemy
by SecondAsian
Summary: It's another school year at Hayner's high school, and while his hate for Seifer doesn't seem to have changed a bit, he's  beginning to notice his stoic accomplice, Fuu. HayFuu Roxette
1. Dodgeball, Part 1

Gym. It was definitely Hayner's best subject in school. Obviously, math wasn't his forte and his history teacher always hounded him for homework. At least in that large, smelly, metal building he could release the anger that he's built up throughout the day by speeding in front of everyone else during laps or pretending the softball lobbed toward him was Seifer's head and swing at it, hoping it'd split in two like a melon. Yes, gym was the perfect way to let off steam at the end of the day.

But, not today.

Today, it was the first rainy day of September. It was a cold rain, so it also hinted that autumn would come soon. Hayner had just gotten out of history class, which he attended with Pence, his second best buddy compared to Roxas. His history teacher, Mr. Aleman, had just gotten on Hayner's case for returning his homework assignment in soaking wet. His excuse that it fell in a puddle _would've_ worked, but Aleman pointed out it still had no writing on it and gave him a 30 minute detention for after school.

So, naturally, he felt like slugging the guy in the jaw. But he held in that anger and would soon release it at the gym, where there was no homework and Mr. Aleman was in the shape of baseballs, kickballs, hockey pucks; whatever was available to hit.

"Why don't you ever do your homework? Don't you know Mr. Aleman always yells at you for it?" asked Pence, opening his umbrella and zipping up his jacket, "Now that you have detention, you won't be able to make it to the usual spot."

Hayner, narrowly avoiding a puddle, answered, "It'll be too muddy in there today, anyway. We all might as well go home right after."

Pence looked down at the rain soaked ground, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Yeah," Hayner replied, "And besides, don't worry about Aleman chewing me out, cuz' in Gym today, Im'a imagine him as a tennis ball and just smack him out of the field!" Hayner made a large swinging motion with his hand not holding the umbrella and almost fell over into a large puddle. He recovered, though, grabbing onto a nearby pole and pushing himself back up.

"You okay?" asked Pence, his hand out in case his friend needed help.

Hayner was back on both his feet and wiping off his hand, "Yeah, but why do these poles haveta be so damn grimy in wet weather?"

Right at that moment, a girl with a transparent umbrella quickly walked in between them. Although she was short, Hayner could see white hair and a piercing red eye through her umbrella.

"Hi, Fuu," said Pence in an overly cheerful tone. However, the girl didn't respond. Instead, she glanced at Hayner, who was wiping his dirty hand on his pants, and smirked meanly.

"Spaz," she commented, then continued on walking.

"Well, now my day is worse," sighed Hayner, beginning to walk again "First Aleman, then I almost slip, now Seifer's lackey."

"You mean Fuu?" Pence asked, his trance-like fixation on the petite girl broken, "I wouldn't say she's a lackey, and you have to admit, she's pretty cute."

Upon hearing this, Hayner stopped in his tracks and looked back at Pence, a wry look on his face, "Cute?"

After a three second silence, Pence opened his mouth to talk, but Hayner kept going before he had a chance to speak, "The girl is bitter, rude, awkward, and totally isolated. Or is that your kind of thing?"

Pence, still surprised over Hayner's sudden outburst, couldn't think of how to respond, so he just shrugged.

Hayner exhaled roughly, "Let's just get to the gym. The sooner I get to hit stuff, the better."

* * *

><p>After getting dressed in the boy's locker room, they quickly ran across the rain to get inside the gym.<p>

The inside of the gym was about 100 meters wide and 80 meters across, with a hardwood floor that had a basketball layout painted on it in white paint. On the left and right ends were bleachers, where the school would sit during assemblies, basketball and volleyball games, and on rainy days when the PE teacher was too lazy to make them do rainy-day exercises. The two boys could see their class already sitting on the bleachers, with their teacher standing in front of them with a burlap sack. They hurried to sit down with their class and their teacher, Mr. Sandoval, said to them in a naturally booming voice, "Boys, today, since it's raining, we have two options; one, sit on the benches and do nothing," everyone groaned at this, especially Hayner, who was dying to smack a ball toward the heavens or run away from his problems with some laps around the court. Sandoval continued, pulling a red rubber ball out of the sack, "Or…we can play dodge ball."

With that, the whole class erupted into pandemonium, garnering the attention of the surrounding classes. There was just something so appealing about hitting someone in the stomach with a rubber ball and not getting in trouble for it.

Hayner said excitedly to Pence next to him, "This is gonna be awesome! Just hope that you're on my team, cuz' if you're not, I won't show mercy."

To this, Pence laughed, "You're kidding, right?"

Hayner shook his head slowly, the excited shine in his eyes melting into a only-slightly-serious killer stare, "If you're on the other side of that line, I will bury you in red rubber."

Mr. Sandoval quieted the class down and added, "But for today's dodge ball session, we'll be playing against a different class."

Hayner almost shouted with glee when he heard this. He knew that there were only two other all-boy classes in the school, and one had Rai and the other had despicable Seifer. Whichever one they played, he knew that come Monday, either Seifer or Rai would be fresh out of the hospital, their vision blurred red from all of the balls thrusted in their face (y'know, in a non-sexual way).

"We'll be playing against Ms. Vasquez's class."

What?

An all girl class? But that was against the rules, _Hayner's_ rules! He already made a vow to never, ever harm a cute girl, and when those cute girls are all wearing those skimpy gym shorts, it becomes really hard to want to hit them. Hayner decided he'd have to blow off steam some other way, because he wasn't gonna dare make a bad impression on the ladies. He was horrible at catching dodge balls, so today, he decided he'd just chill in the back, or get hit early so the temptation to throw a ball would be relieved and he could go back to the bleachers.

Mr. Sandoval put three cones across the center of the basketball court to mark the boundary line, and blue tape around the area that both teams would stand in; if they stepped outside the blue line, they'd automatically be called out. He then got three large red dodge balls out of the burlap sack and laid them along the boundary line, equal distance way from both teams.

Hayner, Pence, and his 20-something classmates stood on the north side of the court, while Ms. Vasquez's class, a group of about thirty 14-15 year old girls in skimpy PE shorts, stood on the south side.

Hayner scanned the opposing team for any cute girls to watch out for, so far counting three 5's, nine 7's, four 8's, and a girl that could've been a 10, but her nose was too big and her eyes were too far apart (He was very picky about women.) he decided to let his team handle it and if the situation ever got too dire, he'd try to catch a ball or two to make some easy nonviolent outs. Even though they were girls and therefore were exempt from the intense war of dodge ball, he still wasn't going to cope with losing to a bunch of dainty females.

After scanning from left to right, he noticed another girl who could've been a perfect 10; long, slim legs, nice butt, decently filled out, and nice, soft looking white hair. Now if only she'd turn around so he could see her hopefully beautiful face (according to Hayner law, if a girl had a 10 body and a butter face, than you add both scores and divide by 2 for your final answer. It's probably the most math Hayner's had to do in his life.)

Finally the girl turned around and Hayner's jaw almost dropped when he saw the signature scowl and crimson eye.

"Hey, it's Fuu!" Pence said to Hayner from behind, making him jump suddenly, "You OK, dude?"

"_Just fine_," Hayner thought, "_I mean, all I did was check out my archenemy's lackey and rate her a 10!_"

Hayner turned to Pence and replied wearily, "Man, you have to stop scaring me like that. And yeah, I'm fine, I was just checking out the chicks."

"Oh," Pence replied simply, also looking over at girls, "Well, they are cute. Fuu looks pretty good in a PE outfit, don't you think?"

Hayner made a slight jump again at Pence's last question. Fuu looking good? Looking like a totally datable, kissable human being? That was a laugh. As if. No way.

_Well, maybe._

Once that thought crept into his head, Hayner made a slight groaning sound and slapped the side of his head as if to knock something loose from his brain.

Pence saw this and showed concern for his friend, "Hayner? What's wrong?"

"_Nothing's wrong, just don't mention Fuu again_," Hayner then said to Pence without looking toward him, "Nothing's wrong, it's just…"

Before Hayner could complete his thought, Sandoval blew his whistle to garner the attention of both classes.

He announced, with Ms. Vasquez by his side, "Ok, classes! The reason you're facing each other today is because Ms. Vasquez and I have a little circumstantial negotiation."

Everyone mumbled questionably at his last remark, confused.

Ms. Vasquez chimed in, "He means a bet."

Cue many "oh"s and "ah"s coming from both sides.

Compared to Mr. Sandoval's booming voice, intimidating features, and tall stature at 6'2", Ms. Vasquez stood 5'0", dwarfed by the much taller teacher in both size and voice. However, whenever Mr. Sandoval said something that didn't make sense at first, Ms. Vasquez would always be somewhere within hearing range, and always available as the dictionary from Sandovalnese to English.

"Anyways," Mr. Sandoval continued, "I bet Ms. Vasquez that if my boys could beat her girls in a game of dodge ball-"

"-which they can't-"

"-shut up- that if we win, her girls will be cleaning up after all of our sporting activities for the rest of the semester!"

To this, the boys cheered loudly, while the girls jeered and booed.

"And if _I_ win," Ms. Vasquez said, "Which I will, the boys have to run in a lap around the school in our PE short shorts during passing period."

"_What?_", thought Hayner, "_That's a horrible bet! If we win, we don't haveta clean, but if we lose, we embarrass ourselves in front of everyone? Oh, hell no, we're not losing!"_

Hayner could feel a gaze on him, and looked to see Fuu staring at him, her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. She said no words (as usual), but she stuck her tongue out at him and blew a raspberry.

Hayner didn't know why, but even after the incident with Fuu at passing period, he felt the urge to hit her melt away. He also noticed he was looking at her face more. Looking (staring, actually) at her now, he could see her clear, smooth skin, small nose, shiny pink lips-

"_Get these damn thoughts outta my head!_" thought Hayner, turning away from Fuu and hitting his forehead, "_She's the enemy, she always has been! So why am I looking at like this now!_"

Hayner heard Sandoval's whistle blow again, then heard him say, "The rules of dodgeball are if you're hit with the ball anywhere from your feet to your chest, you're out! If you catch a ball thrown at you by an opponent before it hits the ground, the thrower is out and a teammate who was out is brought back in! Now, let's play some dodge ball!"

Everyone readied themselves behind the line, waiting for Vasquez's signal. Hayner himself was trying to clear his thoughts so he could fully concentrate on the game and not have to parade around school in short shorts.

"Ready.."

"Set…"

"DODGEBALL!"

TBC

* * *

><p><em>No, this isn't entirely about dodgeball, but the first drabble is based primarily on the game <em>_J Hi, this is Sec (Waka for you that have known me in the past) here saying I'm back from doing Persona 4 stories! :D I decided to take a break from P4 and relax by beginning one of the only Hayfuu stories in existence, but anyways, I plan to go far with this fic and see it to completion with a chapter a week, so next weekend, expect chapter 2, featuring the dodge ball match of the century! (Yeaaah, not really that epic, but somewhat epic.)_

_Until then, don't forget to R&R, because criticism and compliments are very supportive towards this story and inspire me to write better and-obviously, if no one even seems to be reading this, I might just stop and take another looong hiatus L_

_So later!_

_R&R_


	2. Dodgeball, Part 2

With the tweet of Ms. Vasquez's whistle, everyone made a rush for the three rubber balls in the center. Hayner only did a half-hearted jog to the line and, after seeing all the balls were already on their side, just ducked back behind his team. He was still conflicted about whether or not he should play seriously. None of the kids in class were really good at dodgeball (Pence was absolutely horrible, always throwing the ball like he was playing a game of catch), so most likely, they'd lose. Then again, they were playing against _girls_. He didn't mean to be sexist or anything, but he had never seen a girl beast at dodgeball like him before.

He stood in a corner near the boundary to watch the game for a bit and saw that half of the girl's team was already out due to their soft throws and general slowness. He also noticed Fuu wasn't really moving around. In fact, she was just standing at the southeast corner of the court looking at her nails, occasionally stepping to the side or tilting her head to avoid a ball.

Hayner scoffed and snapped out of his thoughts just quickly enough to dodge a poorly thrown dodgeball that went for his feet. It had probably already bounced once, but he couldn't be too sure. The other thing he had to worry about was his newfound interest in Fuu, his mortal enemy's (Seifer) henchwoman. It was really throwing him off his concentration whenever he accidentally glanced at her and found himself staring for a good two or three seconds before returning to reality. He didn't know whether or not he was just feeling a little weird because he got rained on or if these feelings were true, but that didn't really matter right now. His number one priority now was to make sure he didn't end up embarrassing himself, running around the school in short shorts.

In less than one minute, almost the whole team of girls was wiped out. All that remained on the south side of the court was Selphie, who was nervously holding a dodgeball that was too big for her hands, and Fuu, who had survived even though she barely moved at all. The boy's team was still completely intact; even Pence, their worst player, had only gone out twice before being immediately sent back in by a caught ball. The other two dodgeballs were in possession of Wedge and O'aka, who were both decent dodgeball players to say the least.

On the sidelines, Mr. Sandoval was rubbing his hands together and giggling to himself like a madman. Ms. Vasquez, however, kept a smug grin on her face, believing that her girls would pull through in the end.

After some whispering between Wedge and O'aka, they both hurled their dodgeballs, Wedge's ball aimed at Selphie and O'aka's aimed at Fuu. Selphie, the ball about to hit her, made a loud yelp before she was hit on the right shoulder and was called out. Fuu didn't even look up at O'aka's ball, but instead kept looking at the nails on her right hand while her left hand was at her side.

Mr. Sandoval was already in mid-cheer and the boy's team was already cheering, relieved they wouldn't have to wear the skimpy shorts and happy that they'd have maids to clean up their messes for the next semester.

That is, until Fuu quickly brought her left hand up and caught the ball centimeters away from her stomach.

That's about when everything fell dead silent. Sandoval's mouth formed an O and his eyebrows almost reached his hairline. Ms. Vasquez made a slight laugh, whispering, "Told you so," to herself. The boys were so shocked that they could only watch in horror as Selphie stepped back onto the court and Fuu lobbed the dodgeball 90 miles an hour at Wedge's stomach.

The sound of rubber making contact echoed throughout the quiet gymnasium and was promptly followed by a blunt thud on the hardwood. Not only did Wedge fall down, but he groaned loudly as his fellow teammates helped him over to the bleachers, a look of horror glued onto their faces.

_Because Fuu still had another ball with her._

Selphie handed Fuu the dodgeball she had with her before being called out then stood confidently next to her, knowing that the silent girl was going to lead the girls to victory.

As Fuu looked over the crowd of boys still on court, a sadistic smile crept onto her lips and she moved her arm back, readying herself to throw, make contact, and annihilate.

The mass of boys, terrified, all ran like a stampede of cattle to the far side of the court. Mr. Sandoval was forced to call out a total of seven boys out because they had stepped out of bounds. The fifteen that remained, however, still had to deal with Fuu's killer throws.

"_What was I thinking?_" thought Hayner, a cold sweat on his back, "_How could I think of falling for a girl like her? She's a psycho, s-she'll kill us!_"

_She's also a hell of a dodgeball player._

Again, Hayner silenced the contradicting thoughts in his head and braced himself for a hit.

Fuu slowly scanned the crowd for a good target, then locked on and threw, the ball making a whooshing sound as it cut through the air and smacked Pence square on the forehead. Hayner watched with wide eyes as his friend dropped on his back onto the court, the ball he had been struck with rolling away slowly.

"Pence!" he cried in worry, running over to his fallen friend, "You OK, buddy?"

Pence's forehead had the stitching-like pattern of the dodgeball embossed on his forehead in pink. Pence himself had his mouth hanging open and his eyes slowly looked up at Hayner, "Remember what I said about Fuu being cute?"

Hayner nodded slowly. Pence answered, "Totally disregard that," then tilted his head back onto the hardwood and shut his eyes, losing consciousness.

With the help of the other thirteen survivors, Hayner carried Pence over to the bleachers and laid him down next to Wedge, both looking like corpses at a funeral (DAMN this is a sad chapter).

Mr. Sandoval protested in a shocked voice, "B-but headshots are illegal in dodgeball! She should be called out for that!"

Ms. Vasquez argued in a mocking, condescending tone, "What, your boys can't take a hit from a girl? What kind of men are they?"

"That's no girl, that's a d-demon!" stuttered Sandoval, his booming voice shrinking.

Seeing Sandoval defeated, Ms. Vasquez called out, "It's OK, Fuu, you're still in! Just keep doing what you've been doing!"

"_Doing what, systematically killing all of us!_" thought Hayner in a frantic tone, "_At this rate, we'll all need body bags!_"

However, Fuu just stood there, the same sadistic smile on her face as before. She was waiting for one of the balls to be thrown over to her side so that she could kill-I mean, hit- another one of the boys. The three boys who grabbed the dodgeballs tossed them over to Fuu one by one, purposely letting her catch them so they could be spared. Three more girls came in and after three more speeding throws, three more boys were left either groaning or completely unconscious on the bleachers. Mr. Sandoval couldn't watch anymore, so he stepped out of the gym to look at the rain and Ms. Vasquez watched as her star pupil showed these men who the superior gender was.

Three more surrender tosses were given to Fuu, three more balls were thrown, three more boys left the court and three more girls came skipping in. Then, the process repeated again, Fuu getting three headshots in a row, leaving only Hayner and two other boys on the north side and Fuu and seven other girls on the south side.

After one of Fuu;s devastating headshots, one of the dodgeballs had bounced off his head and landed back on the girl's side. So, Fuu got two birds in one stone and threw the ball at Tidus's head, from which it ricocheted into Wakka's stomach. The girls cheered when all that was left was Hayner and the three dodgeballs.

The gym went silent as the girls waited for Hayner to screw up and the boys that were still conscious waited in dead silence for Hayner to win it somehow (or at least give up a throw and leave with his life.)

After gathering all three of the balls in front of him, he looked down at them, pondering on what to do.

_OK, I have some options to work with. I could, one, do the reasonable thing and give up so I don't leave here with a concussion. Two, I throw the dodgeballs at the incompetent girls and try to pull a miracle win somehow. Or, I could go straight on for Fuu…_

Hayner looked up at Fuu to see she had her arms crossed and a smug grin on her face. Her eye was narrowed at him so he could only see a sliver of the crimson within. The other girls around her weren't really paying attention, they thought Fuu had this whole game wrapped up, so they all just stood in the corner gossiping or talking about shoes or whatever.

Hayner breathed in deeply, exhaled through his mouth, then grabbed one of the dodgeballs he had laid on the floor. He let the restraints he put on himself at the beginning of the game go and threw the ball with all his might at Fuu. The ball cut through the air in a straight line, quickly approaching Fuu. Hayner knew that she was in prime position to just catch it and end the game. However, instead, Fuu stepped to the left to avoid it and let it bounce away from her. One of the girls went to grab the ball and tossed it to Fuu.

Holding the ball, Fuu looked over at Hayner, her smug smile turning more playful. Not "playing" playful, but more like "cat playing with its food" playful. She stepped toward Hayner slowly, ball in her hands. Hayner stepped back, grabbing one of the other two balls for protection. He tried to use it as a shield, hiding as much of his body behind it as possible.

They both just stood there about 10 feet away from each other, each with a ball in their hands. One male, one female. One a loud leader, the other a silent sidekick.

Everything was still for about 30 seconds before Hayner made the first move, giving up his shield and throwing it at Fuu with all his might. Fuu held her own ball up and deflected Hayner's ball, causing it to fly out of the court and into the empty section of the bleachers. Fuu readied her own ball and threw it, aiming for Hayner's foot for an easy out. Hayner quickly jumped out of the way, the ball bouncing off the floor and past him. He looked down and saw the last ball and took hold of it. With the ball, he sprinted as close to Fuu as possible and lobbed it, using up all of his remaining strength.

As he looked at Fuu, he could see her smug demeanor melt into a look of shock, her eye wide open and her lips parted. Her crimson eye was sparkling in the fluorescent light and her pink lips glistened. She was beautiful…

_SMACK!_

The girls gasped as they saw Hayner's ball make contact with Fuu's face, carrying her back a step but not knocking her down. She recovered from the blow still standing, but looking away from Hayner towards the girls. They were so shocked that Fuu, who took on the whole boy's team and carried their own team back from the brink was now…

"OUT!" called Mr. Sandoval, who had stepped back in just in time to see the tense battle, "Sorry, Ms. Vasquez, but devil girl is _out!" _

Ms. Vasquez couldn't believe it herself. She tried to argue, "B-but that was a headshot! T-there're illegal in dodgeball!"

Mr. Sandoval laughed, "No, no, no, you already broke that rule, so now I get to break it, too! So what does that mean?"

Ms. Vasquez made a heavy sigh, covering her face with one hand, replying lamely, "She's out."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Sandoval cheered loudly, knowing that the girls' star player was out of the game, "C'mon, boys, show those ladies who's boss!"

"Don't even bother," Selphie said, approaching Mr. Sandoval from the group of shocked girls, "We all decided to forfeit. I mean, without Fuu, we'll just get out again, right?"

All of the other girls mumbled in agreement, huddled around Fuu to make sure she was OK.

Upon hearing this, the conscious boys whooped and cheered, filling the gym with sounds of joy. A few of the boys even went over to Hayner, picking him up off his feet and carrying him away.

Hayner thought all of this was really nice, but he couldn't help but feel bad for hurting Fuu. He looked back at the south side of the gym and saw the girls all huddled around Fuu, worrying over her. He could hear a couple of phrases echo back to him.

"_Oh my god, Fuu, are you okay?"_

"_That looked like it really hurt!"_

"_Hayner's such a meanie for doing that, especially to your pretty face!"_

"_Forget him, he's such a pig!"_

Well, there went Hayner's chances at getting any action this school year. Maybe next year the girls would forget about this game, but for now, he was doomed to being single.

* * *

><p><em>All right, guys, that's it for this chapter! I actually was working on this a few months ago, but I didn't know how to end it, so I gave up on it :_

_But now, I'm inspired to start again :D and if my head didn't ache so much, I'd do Chapter 3 -_-' But we can't always get what we want, right?_

_R&R_


	3. The Usual Spot

"So, _all_ the girls in Ms. Vasquez's class?" asked Roxas in wonder.

"Yeah, every last one of 'em," sighed Hayner dissipatedly, "To them, I'm nothing more than a face-breaking masochist pig."

It had been a full week since the dodgeball incident with Fuu, and news had spread about (from the boys' point of view) Hayner's epic comeback win and (from the girls' point of view) his barbaric crimes against women on the dodgeball court.

Hayner was now with his friends Pence, Roxas, and Olette in the usual spot, which had taken a couple days to dry after the rainy weather. It was the first time they had met up after school since the rainy day and Hayner was telling them his worries about the girls' opinion about him.

"Oh, come on, it can't be that bad," reassured Olette, practically the mother of the group of boys, "Wait, you didn't actually break Fuu's face, did you?"

"Of course not," smirked Hayner, "I checked in with the school nurse right after the match and she said Fuu just had some swelling, and it'd be gone by tomorrow. I haven't actually seen Fuu since then, though."

"Wait," said Olette, "You checked to see if Fuu was all right?"

Hayner didn't seem to pay attention to Olette's question, because he went on, "But what does it matter? My chances at the ladies this school year are already zero, and school's barely started!"

"You don't know that," replied Pence, "Only the girls in Ms. Vasquez you don't have a chance with."

"Actually, girls are real rumor spreaders,," inquired Roxas, "News of Fuu would've been spread throughout the whole school by…yesterday."

Hayner hung his head in low spirits, replying halfheartedly, "Then that must mean _all_ the girls hate me now, too!"

"Excuse me!" interrupted Olette, "I was asking you something, Hayner."

Hayner replied, head still hung, "Unless you wanna tell me a miracle way to get the girls at school to like me again, I'm not interested."

Ignoring this, Olette asked, "After the dodgeball match, you said you went to the school nurse to check on Fuu, right?"

Hayner looked at Olette and answered in a dragging tone, "Yeeaaah…so?"

"So…why did you?" asked Olette, "You hate Seifer, so that should mean you hate his friends, too, including Fuu."

Hayner answered, "Well, yeah, I should, but it only seemed like the right thing to do to make sure I didn't, y'know, hurt her. I was actually kinda worried I did."

Roxas stood up from his seat on the couch, putting his hands together, "Awww, Hayner was worried about Fuu."

Hearing this, Hayner's face turned pink and replied shakily, "N-no, I don't mean it like that! It's just, sure, I hate Fuu's guts, but she's still a girl, and-"

"You said you were worried you messed up your chances with all the girls at school, didn't you?" interrupted Pence, joining in on Roxas' fun

Hayner pointed a finger at Pence and raised his voice, "Don't you twist my words around like idiot Roxas did!"

Olette stood up from her seat, too, asking Hayner, "Actually, why _are_ you acting so weird when we mention Fuu like this?"

Hayner looked away from them. Why _was_ he acting so weird? Fuu meant nothing to him. And yeah, he checked in on Fuu's condition through the school nurse only to make sure she was okay and he didn't look like such a bad guy, but…it actually _did_ kinda worry him if something serious were to happen to her because of him.

He then reflected on the thoughts he had last week on that rainy day. About Fuu. Snapping at Pence for calling her cute, unknowingly checking her out and rating her a 10, always being distracted by her looks during the game…

Realizing he was lost in thought, Hayner snapped back to reality only to find his three friends staring at him coyly.

"Whatcha so lost in thought about?" asked Roxas mischievously, "Your crush?"

With that, Hayner's cheeks went red as he tried to act ignorant, "I-I don't know what yer talkin' about! What crush?"

Olette answered this time, tone dragging with mischief in it, "You knoow…Fuu."

Pence added, "It's obvious you at least think about her often, right?"

"That means nothing!" replied Hayner sharply, "And all of you better shut up about this or I'll make you!"

The three teasers burst into laughter, leaving Hayner slightly confused.

"We're only joking, Hayner!" laughed Roxas, "We know you too well to think you could actually fall for someone as cold as Fuu."

"Yeah," added Olette, "Besides, you have better taste in girls, don't you?"

Hayner couldn't believe it. This whole time, these dumbasses were just pulling his leg. If he had a heavy object, he'd hit all of them with it. Very hard.

He answered shakily, "Y-yeah, you guys got me good. No way I'd ever feel anything for Fuu, right?"

"Exactly," replied Pence with a smile on his face, "Cuz just like you said, she's bitter, rude, awkward, and totally soulless."

He didn't say soulless, he said isolated! And hearing Pence say those awful words now, Hayner couldn't help but want to punch him in the jaw. He didn't know why exactly.

He didn't want to know.

Olette looked down at her watch, then back at the three boys, "Gee, it's already 5. I'd better get home to do my homework."

Roxas replied, "Yeah, me too."

Pence chimed in, "Homework, yeah."

Olette rolled her eyes at them, "You're not gonna do it, aren't you?"

"You know us too well, don't you?" said Roxas, smiling.

The three started to walk out the gate of the usual spot, Olette replying, "Well, I'm not letting either of you copy Mr. Lugbill's math homework! If you don't do it, you won't learn it and you'll fail anyways…"

The conversation trailed off as they left the usual spot and started walking toward their houses. Hayner was left inside the usual spot, alone. He sat back onto the couch, thinking.

Fuu, bitter, rude, awkward, and totally isolated (or in Pence's terms, soulless.) Sure, she was bitter, but she was friends with Seifer, so that was inevitable. Rude? Come to think of it, any rude thing Fuu had said to Hayner, Seifer was around. She said mean things to him when Seifer wasn't around, but she sounded a bit less cold and more…friendly? No, that wasn't the word…sociable. And awkward? With that weird one word sentence thing she had, she was very awkward socially, but she still moved with the grace of…someone with a lot of grace, Hayner didn't have a way with words. All he knew is that his judgment of Fuu had been flawed and too early. He didn't even know who she really was underneath her dense, dense shell.

Well, from this day forth, Hayner vowed that by the end of the school year, he'd know who Fuu really was as a person, not the cold bitter hater she was around Seifer.

* * *

><p><em>Merry Christmas, Christians, Happy Hanukkah, Jews, and Happy Kwanzaa, brothas!<em>

_Yep, that was racist, but I don't really care :P It's Christmas Day and I feel like writing, so here's my half-assed chapter. Next time, we go to the beach :D_

_R&R_


	4. The Sandlot

"'Bout time you showed up," muttered Seifer as a certain white-haired girl walked into the sandlot, "Where've you been? You've ditched us for the past week."

Fuu didn't answer, but instead continued walking towards her three friends and sat down with them on the bench.

Rai said to Seifer loudly, "I heard that she almost got knocked out last week, on the rainy day, y'know?"

Seifer suddenly stood up from the bench in surprise, "What?"

Rai kept chattering, "Yeah, y'know, she took a dodgeball to the dome from Hayner! Didn't hear?"

Seifer looked to Fuu, glaring, "Is this true? You really let that tool Hayner do that to you?"

Fuu didn't answer, but instead glanced at Seifer for a moment, then continued looking straight, stoic as ever. At least her face had gotten better since the incident. She remembered how much her left cheek had swollen up when she woke up the morning after. She hadn't gone to school the whole last week because she refused to let her friends and classmates see her so dumb-looking.

Seifer, understanding Fuu's silence, answered roughly, "I thought you were supposed to be tougher than that! What're people gonna think of you now? That you're a wimp?"

As usual, no matter the situation, Seifer was always ready to chew someone out. Whether it was a friend of Hayner or one of his own comrades, he was still quick to snap and scold at whoever he saw fit. Still, Fuu thought Seifer was an understanding friend after the scolding, toning down his voice and seeming twice as patient and helpful as beforehand.

Fuu rarely answered her friend's questions, but today, she opened her mouth and replied calmly, "Off guard."

"You were caught off guard?" asked Seifer, "Bull, this is Hayner we're talking about! Stupid ass loudmouth Hayner! You can see his swings and punches coming from a mile away!"

Seeing that Seifer was heating up a bit too much, Rai intervened, stammering, "Y-y'know, boss, it's not entirely her fault! She was just tired from the game cuz she performed so well a-and Hayner cheated her, y'know?"

Vivi, who was standing mostly behind Rai the whole time, decided to hide himself behind the bench to be safe from the whole clash until it was over.

Seifer scoffed at Rai's excuse, saying, "Whatever. It still pisses me off Hayner was able to get a shot off on one of my friends."

That was strange. Seifer rarely used the word "friend" to describe Fuu, Rai, or Vivi. Mostly he just called them his "comrades", or "allies", or his "gang". Fuu guessed that Seifer thought the word "friend" was too mushy to describe his bond with them. She could feel the scolding Seifer melting away and the understanding Seifer appearing.

After a short silence, Seifer said to Fuu in a calmed tone, "Look, maybe it's not your fault _entirely_. Even I can admit that when the idiot Hayner's really trying, he has a hell of an arm. But make sure you're more…aware next time."

Yeah, that was understanding Seifer, all right. Fuu nodded and mumbled, "'Kay."

To this, Seifer added, "And don't forget what I'll be doing to that moron in a couple days. On Sunday, me and him are having our match, and I need to train as much as possible 'til then!"

"Yeah, boss, you need to train!" replied Rai, pumped for the upcoming match, "Cuz you need to redeem yerself fer last time fer when he beat you, y'know?"

Seifer sighed in exasperation, "He didn't _beat_ me, I just showed him a little more mercy than I should've! Now Vivi, did you bring my Struggle bat?"

Vivi popped up from behind the bench and as if by magic, pulled a sky blue Struggle bat from behind him and handed it to Seifer.

"Thanks, Vi," thanked Seifer, "Now, Rai, last time we went for 1,000 swings, but this time, we're crankin' it up to 2K!"

Rai laughed and replied, "Don't worry, boss, cuz y'know, I got those counting skills you can depend on!"

Fuu laughed internally, remembering how pathetically Rai had tried to count the steps at the train station last summer. She could still hear Rai mumbling to himself, "12, 13, 16, 31...12...".

She watched Seifer get up from the bench and walk to the center of the sandlot with Rai and Vivi. He started swinging the Struggle bat viciously, Rai counting his swings as badly as he did last time (By the time Rai finally got from 1 to 1,000, Seifer had swung the bat at least quadruple that amount).

Still, she had to ask herself. Why was Hayner able to get that shot off on her in dodgeball?

Was it because she was off guard? No, she had been most diligent in keeping her guard up until that very moment he threw the ball.

Was it because she was distracted? She could sort of remember thinking on something during the match, but she couldn't exactly remember what it was.

Those were the only reasons she could think of for why Hayner was able to get her out. The thought that she had been pondering on during the match could've slipped her up so she failed to pay attention, but it was highly unlikely.

But still. What was she pondering about back then?

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Seifer call her name.

"Hey, Fuu!"

She looked up at him to signify she heard him call. He asked, "What number comes after 32?"

"33." she answered, forced to talk since a simple gesture wouldn't do.

She turned back to her thoughts, but in the background, she could hear Seifer yelling at Rai ("See, I told you 17 doesn't come after 32!")

Fuu could vaguely remember something related to her thought…the color yellow.

No, not really yellow, but a hair color...blonde. Yeah, it involved blonde hair. But what could she have been thinking of with blonde hair?

She looked over to Seifer, who was still swinging the Struggle bat, barely sweating after swinging for almost ten minutes. She probably wasn't thinking of Seifer. She had thought of someone with a full head of blonde hair, and Seifer wore a black beanie over most of his.

Besides, she had thought of spiky hair….

Was it Roxas? She had always admired Roxas slightly. His quiet tone when first confronted alone, but his confidence and boldness when his friends were involved. However, the hair she was thinking of was more slicked back than Roxas', and more bleached.

She tried to think of someone with these features, and only one person came to mind.

"Fuu!"

"Huh?" she snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at the voice, seeing Seifer, Rai, and Vivi in front of her.

The voice had been Seifer's, and Fuu herd him continue, "Fuu, what's wrong with you? You might be mute, but you're definitely not deaf."

Rai chimed in, "Maybe that dodgeball from Hayner ruined her hearing, y'know?"

Hayner! That's who she had been thinking of during the match! But why, why him? She had no reason to think of that boy. He was loud, obnoxious, smug-

"Fuu, listen to me, dammit!" Seifer practically roared at her, "Why're you spacing out?"

She didn't know how to respond. She was caught off guard here. There was no gesture or two bit sentence she could use to describe her confusion now. She instead continued staring off into the space to the left of Seifer, eye wide and deep in thought.

Seeing Fuu wasn't acknowledging him, Seifer scoffed, "You look like a deer caught in the headlights."

Rai said to Seifer, "Maybe we should just take her home, y'know? She's got that thousand yard stare goin' on."

Seifer was about to push Fuu toward her home when she blurted out, very out of character of her, "I-I'm fine."

She had never stuttered in her speech and she had never blurted out anything that wasn't a smug remark or below hearing level. What was happening to her?

Seifer could see his comrade was a bit out of it right now, so he said to her, "Look, just let me and the guys'll take you home. For your own sake."

At first, Fuu was unresponsive, but she finally collected herself enough to nod in approval. The three walked Fuu back to her house in silence then left her at her doorstep, calling goodbye as they left back toward the sandlot.

Fuu just stood there, thinking. Why was she thinking about Hayner back then? Sure she had thought about Hayner before, but those times, it wasn't his blonde hair she had thought of, it was his irritability, how annoying he was.

But last week, she had thought about his hair. As she started walking up the steps to her front door, she remembered other things she had pondered on. Like his goofy smile from when he had slipped and grabbed that pole, the strong, fierce eyes he had during their showdown, how his muscles had shown when he threw that dodgeball toward her…

By the time she returned to the real world, the once blue sky was now glowing orange as it hit evening. She had been standing at her front door for a good half hour. It was a wonder her mother hadn't discovered her standing there, lost in thought.

Lost in thought about _Hayner_.

Just the idea that a classy, serious girl like her could lose herself in a thought over a goofy loudmouth like him was so strange.

She decided for the night to just skip her homework, take a nice shower, and go to bed. She needed to end the day before she found herself staring off into space again. Besides, tomorrow was Saturday, and she was going to the beach with Seifer, Rai and Vivi.

* * *

><p><em>Happy New Year, guys, I hope all of my wonderful, loyal fans enjoyed this Fuu chapter! :D I know I said I was doing the beach chapter, but I wanted to put in Fuu's point of view first and establish everybody's characters and blabbity blah :P<em>

_NOW we go to the beach xD_

_R&R_


	5. The Beach, Part 1

"The beach!" cried out Hayner, tightening his grip on the train's steel handrail, "Think about it; the sun, the sand, and most importantly, the cute girls in skimpy bikinis!"

Hayner's friends all looked at him with slight embarrassment, this being his fifth outburst ever since they had left the Usual Spot for the train station. Roxas, sitting across from the excited boy, started to look away from Hayner and through the window behind him, viewing the passing scenery of trees and river. Pence, however, shared his blonde friend's enthusiasm, and started conversing with him about "scouting" and "wingmen".

Pence said, "So, this time, you have to wingman for _me_, since I helped you last time."

Hayner scoffed as he crossed his arms, replying in an accusing tone, "_Helped_ me? Please, you dragged me down with you last time you wing manned for me!"

Pence stared at Hayner with a confused face, "Dragged you down? How did I drag you down when we were going after those girls in Besaid?"

Hayner practically yelled back, "You were the one who threw a blitz ball at my girl's head after yours ditched you!"

"That was an accident!"

"Accident, my ass!"

"It was!"

"Was not!"

"Was so!"

"Boys!" Olette intervened, throwing herself between the two and giving them both a deadly glare, "Would you two please be quiet? Other people are on this train, too, y'know."

"Eh?" Hayner looked around and saw a couple dozen other people sitting down in the seats and holding the handrails, all staring up at him and Pence with interest and annoyance, "Oh, yeah, I guess I forgot, hehe." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly before looking down at the floor.

"Why are there so many people on this train to the beach, anyways?" Pence asked Olette, his brown eyes scanning the crowd for a cute girl.

Olette explained, "Well, the weather report said that today would be the last good beach day before autumn weather kicks in. So, I guess everyone's just trying to enjoy it."

Hayner lifted his head back up, adding, "And with the more people going to the beach, the more chicks to choose from!"

Olette rolled her eyes at the blonde and looked over to the still daydreaming Roxas, sighing, "Well, at least you aren't a skirt-chaser, huh, Roxas?"

Hearing his name being said, Roxas snapped out of his thoughts and looked to the brunette, "What was that, Olette? I was just staring at those three girls at the other end of the train."

"Ya hear that, Olette?" laughed Hayner, "All men are pigs!"

Upon seeing Hayner and Pence force Roxas into a high five, Olette face palmed, mumbling, "I hang out with a group of imbeciles."

* * *

><p>"Woohoo!" cried Rai with excitement and joy in his booming voice, " It's the beach, y'know? All of those gnarly waves, the warm sun, and the pretty girls, y'know?"<p>

Seifer glared at Rai with annoyance, "Shut up, Rai, it's still another ten minutes before we get there. Besides, you're still going to need to help me train again before I let you surf, you hear?"

Rai smiled at Seifer and nodded his head, "You got it, boss! Y'know I got that counting business down, y'know?"

"Screw that!" Seifer replied loudly, "Because of you, I didn't know whether I was 200 or 500 reps in! I swear, my left arm is three times sorer than my right! This time, Vivi's on count duty, right, Vi?"

Seifer looked down at the small boy in the brown wizard hat. Vivi looked up at him with yellow eyes and gave him a thumbs up, showing compliance.

"Good," Seifer then turned to his right to see Fuu staring through the window of the train. He was still a bit worried about her ever since she had frozen up the other day. But he was sure she was fine now; a day's rest should have done her good.

He said to her, "I don't know what you could do when we get to the beach, Fuu. Vivi's counting my reps and Rai's gonna help me with my endurance, but I don't know about you…"

Rai chimed in, "She could get us some food, y'know? Y'know, after the workout, yer gonna be real tired and hungry, boss!"

Seifer barked back, "I'm not gonna reduce Fuu to just running around getting us snacks! There's gotta be something-"

"It's fine," interrupted Fuu, apparently having listened to the conversation the whole time.

"You sure?" asked Seifer, "Cuz' it's not really that glamorous of a job in the whole training process."

Fuu didn't answer, instead turning back to the window and staring blankly out it again.

After a short silence, Seifer replied, "Eh, it should be fine. Everyone's got their part, right? When we get there, go fetch us some sea salts, will ya, Fuu?"

"'Kay," she answered, not moving her gaze from the fleeing forest scenery.

In truth, Fuu didn't really mind getting food for her friends while Seifer was training. In fact, she was a bit relieved she'd be able to spend some time away from them so she could think more clearly. About a certain issue.

An annoying issue.

A _blond_ issue.

Fuu knew they were at the beach before the conductor announced they were at their destination, since she saw the gradual change from forest to ocean from the window. Since the four had been sitting in the back of the car, it took a couple of minutes before they were able to step out. They didn't really know why the train would be so crowded during a fall day, but it wasn't so bad. Fuu didn't really mind crowds. Unless certain individuals were part of them.

Seifer called her over so that she could help Rai unpack his surfboard and to help him unpack his training gear. He had brought his Struggle bat, some weighted clothes, and perhaps the dumbest piece of equipment of all: _weighted swimming trunks_.

Fuu threw Seifer an exasperated glance as she tossed him the 10 pound pair of trunks. She noticed the beanie-wearing boy struggle a little with the trunks' weight. Seifer merely replied, "What? It helps me work the abs."

In her head, she replied, "_Who needs abs when you're drowning?_"

After all of the gear was ready, Seifer, Rai, and Vivi made their way to the shore and Fuu headed over to the snack stand.

* * *

><p>Hayner leaped out of the train car as soon as the crowd of people in front of him had disbanded. He was so excited about this trip to the beach. It was smack dab between Twilight Town, Besaid, Kilika, and even Destiny Islands; girls from all over would be coming here to soak in the sun and be hit on.<p>

Sure, some of the girls would also be from his own high school, where he was now an infamous "girl beater", but that didn't matter; chances at a high school romance were still high!

"Hayner, quit standing around and help us with the gear!" Olette half panted, half barked, carrying a broad pink surfboard through the slim exit of the tram.

Hayner turned around to see Pence holding a very large rainbow beach umbrella and briefcase while Roxas ran over to help Olette with the surfboard.

"We have to hurry up or the door'll close on us!" explained Roxas half-frantically, still inside the car and trying to shove the large plastic board through the narrow opening, "So lend us a hand, will ya, Hayner?"

The blonde quickly swooped over to Roxas' side inside the train and helped him push the board through the door. He instructed Roxas, "OK, on three, we shove _hard,_ okay?"

"Got it," replied Roxas with compliance.

Hayner started readying himself, calling slowly, "One…two…"

Olette, unaware of Hayner's plan, heard the counting and asked nervously, "Uh, guys, what're you-"

"THREE!"

Hayner and Roxas tackled the board with all their might, squeezing it through the opening and knocking Olette far back.

"W-whoa!" Olette stumbled about five feet back before finally landing flat on the hard brick surface of the train platform. She rubbed the pained area, groaning, "You jerks could've warned me, y'know."

Roxas heard Olette's groans and rushed over to her, offering her a hand to lift her up, "Sorry," he said in an apologetic tone, "Besides, it was Hayner's idea, so we sorta knew something bad was gonna happen."

Hayner crossed his arms in a defensive pose, retorting, "Hey, you were the idiot that followed through!"

Olette accepted Roxas' hand and he pulled her up. She dusted herself off and pointed an accusing finger at Roxas, " I forgive you, I guess. But do that again, and I'm not gonna let you copy my notes in English anymore."

"What do I care?," replied Roxas, shrugging "I can't even read your messy chicken scratch anyways."

"It's called shorthand!" yelled back Olette, offended and slightly pink, "And at least I don't doodle crappy cartoons in the margins like you do!"

Pence watched the two continue their exchange for a bit before turning to Hayner, "They might take a few minutes. Should we go ahead?"

Hayner scoffed, and replied coyly, "Yeah, better if we leave the two lovebirds alone, anyhow."

He picked the heavy briefcase of beach items up off the concrete ground and walked with Pence off of the urban train platform and down to the sandy beach.

* * *

><p><em>With the Dodgeball done with, we move on to Misadventures at the Beach! Enjoy! :D<em>


	6. The Beach, Part 2

Hayner couldn't help but feel excited upon feeling warm sand flood his sandals when he finally made it down to the beach below the train platform. He would've shouted with joy and run across the sand towards the shore, but that would've jeopardized his first impression with the ladies (although seeing as how that was probably natural behavior at the beach, he should've just done it anyways). The other thing keeping him back was the fact that he had to wait for Pence to lug his half of the equipment down the staircase. Hayner felt slightly bad watching his friend struggle with a large umbrella, three towels and a bag of miscellaneous supplies down the stairs, while he himself was only carrying his own towel and a pair of shades. But Hayner had other things on his mind. Like women!

"I'd help ya, Pence," began Hayner, slipping on his shades coolly, "But the call of the ocean shore awaits!" With that, Hayner started walking briskly down the beach to find a prime spot by the shore.

Pence finally made it down the staircase and started to jog half-heartedly across the sand, "Aw, c'mon, Hayner! *pant* I…need…some help!" Roxas and Olette finally caught up with Pence and were able to relieve him of most of his cargo.

"Where'd Hayner go?" asked Roxas, taking the large rainbow umbrella from Pence with relative ease.

Hayner placed his large hands on his knees as he leaned forward, taking in deep breaths and pointing towards the shore, "*pant* Ah that-away."

"God, Hayner can be impatient sometimes," muttered Olette as she looked on towards the blonde shaded boy in the distance, "But you know what they say: Karma's a bitch."

* * *

><p>Fuu walked with her three comrades across the shore in search for a place to set up camp. Training camp, that is. Today was going to be Seifer's special montage day if he was going to take on Hayner tomorrow. Fuu remembered the defeat that Seifer had suffered against Hayner last time. She took a glimpse at Seifer's profile to see if his nose had properly healed yet.<p>

"This should be a good spot!" Rai practically yelled, "It's got a nice view of the water, and the sand's nice and soft fer runnin', y'know?"

Seifer stopped and took a minute to examine the surroundings. He looked around and saw plenty of people running around, playing Frisbee and whatnot. After a brief moment, he scoffed, replying, "Not good enough. Too many people around for me to train properly! Psh, why do there haveta be so many people at the beach today…?"

Vivi merely shrugged, and Rai stammered, "W-well, it's a nice day, y'know, and people tend to like nice days, and the beach is where people go on nice da-"

"Aww, just shut it!" yelled Seifer, frustrated. He marched past Rai farther down the shore, yelling behind him, "Rai, Vivi, let's go look for another spot! Fuu, you go get those snacks! I'll text ya when we find a spot!"

Fuu flicked her head up and down in agreement, separating from her friends as she made her way towards the concession stand. Finally, she'd have her time away from these knuckleheads and have space to think. Just to herself. Although it wouldn't be the nice, peaceful thinking, seeing that she'd be surrounded by hundreds of screaming teenagers. But still, better a hundred normal screaming kids than one screaming Rai.

Speaking of Rai, she could hear familiar voices ring out in the distance.

"'Dis a good spot, boss? Nice view of the girls, ya know?"

"Can it, Rai!"

* * *

><p>Hayner lay out his beach blanket on a soft area of sand and lay down immediately. He was still waiting on Pence to hurry up with the beach umbrella so that he could be shaded from the sun, but at least his sunglasses were enough to keep him from being absolutely blinded by the sun's rays. As he lay back, his whole body stretched out, his hands resting behind his head, and his toes buried in the cool sand where his blanket barely ended, he felt completely at peace. No worrying about being the #1 Girl Beater at school, no worries about finding a high school romance at the beach. Hell, for even a brief moment, he didn't even think about Fuu.<p>

If only for a brief moment. Then he felt a hard metal object bonk him across the side of the head. He groaned in pain and grabbed for the bruised area, standing up suddenly. Whenever Hayner was in pain, he always thought of Seifer and his blows during their Struggles. But when he looked up, he only saw the agitated faces of his three friends, who he had left in an excited blaze. Roxas, Pence, and Olette all had dark expressions, and Olette was gripping the rainbow umbrella in tense hands.

"What the hell was that for!?" he muttered through clenched teeth.

"Just be lucky I don't do it again," retorted Olette, setting the umbrella down in the sand, "That was a real jerk move just leaving Pence with thirty pounds worth of stuff at the base of the platform!"

"Thirty pounds?" scoffed Hayner, "I'm supposed to feel bad for making him carry _that_ little?"

With that statement, Pence sunk low into his newly set up folding chair.

Trying to defend Pence, Olette retorted, "Hey, it's not his fault he never bothered to build up as much muscle as you or Roxas!"

And so Pence sunk even deeper in his chair, his self-esteem hitting rock bottom. Roxas sat next to the defeated Pence in his own folding chair, plugging in his earbuds and cranking up a song on his MP3 player. A moment later, Olette walked over to Roxas and yanked the right earbud out, loud rock music blasting out of the open bud.

"Don't tell me you came all the way to the beach just to listen to music," said Olette.

"Well, I don't know what else to do," replied Roxas with a genuinely confused look on his face.

"We can do something beach-related," suggested Olette with a smile," Like-"

Pence leapt out of his folding chair, reinvigorated, and blindly interrupted the girl "I got an idea! We can find some Kilika girls! I'm sure they're bound to be fiery!"

Hayner got up from his towel, his interest piqued by the conversation, "Why don't we find some girls from Besaid instead? Yuna from school came from Besaid, and she's a real hottie!"

Roxas and Pence both nodded in agreement, Olette just looking on in disbelief.

"You men and your obsession with girls," sighed Olette, "I meant, why don't we do something _beach-related_! Like…" she gestured towards her pink surfboard, "Surfing!"

Hayner scoffed at the idea, stating, "First of all, you're the only one among us who bothered to learn how to surf. Second of all, you're also the only one who brought a surfboard!"

Roxas chimed in, "How about we bury someone in the sand? That's always fun."

Olette shivered at the idea, "No thanks: there's sand crabs here, especially near the shore, and I don't feel like being pinched by anything except maybe my bikini straps.

Hayner and Pence's minds both floated into a perverted daydream for a brief moment, before Olette slepped them both upside the head, "What about any of you perverts? Will you volunteer?"

Hayner lazily raised a hand, "Hell, I'll do it. Haven't been buried since I was a kid, and I'd enjoy the nostalgia."

Olette smiled slightly at Hayner's offer, stating, "Well, glad to see you can think about something instead of girls."

Pence sneered out a comment, "And Fuu."

Hayner's face grew red at the name, and the blonde stomped towards Pence, "One more goddamn time you tease me, and I'm burying _you_ in the sand!"

Pence backed away, laughing yet still cautious, while Roxas and Pence proceeded to make a Hayner-sized hole in the sand.

About ten minutes later, Hayner was a head peaking out of the sand-laden ground. He quite enjoyed the sensation of cool, damp sand surrounding him. It was like being wrapped in a cool blanket on a hot day. The only problem was that he couldn't scratch his nose, but it was minor. He looked up to see Pence wearing red trunks, Roxas wearing black trunks, and Olette wearing a flattering orange bikini (if she turned around, he could probably see her ass in full view). No, that was bad, getting a boner in the sand would probably cause a cave-in and crush little Hayner. Go down, little Hayner, go down!

"So, comfy, pal?" asked Roxas, arms linked behind his head and with a suspicious smile on his face.

"Yep, comfy?" asked Pence with mutual suspicion. Hayner thought that he knew what was going on.

"Er…sure," answered Hayner skeptically, "Now, if you guys would just dig me out now-"

Before he knew it, Roxas, Pence, and Olette were packing up camp in a blaze, and they made a beeline away from Hayner's alarmed head.

"Hey, guys!" Hayner yelled at the top of his lungs, "What about me!"

"We'd help ya, Hayner!" called Pence, "But the call of the ocean awaits!"

Now left stranded in the middle of the beach, Hayner had but one thought to himself.

…Karma's a bitch.

* * *

><p><em>Next time, we catch up with Fuu! :D and maybe a chance encounter…<em>


	7. A Hole in the Sand, Part 1

"Will that be all, miss?"

"Hm?" Fuu looked up from the screen of her cell phone to see the smiling ice cream vendor offering her a bag full of sea salt ice cream bars. She promptly flipped her phone shut, slid it back into the back pocket of her Capri pants, paid the man, and left with the bag of sea salts in hand.

"Have a nice day!" called the smiling man as she walked away, but Fuu went straight back to looking at her cell phone again.

She wondered why she was even staring at it in the first place. It wasn't like she had anyone to call, besides her usual group of friends and her mother. Upon closer inspection of her contact list, Fuu realized that she didn't even have Vivi or Rai in her contacts. Only her mom's name and Seifer's were there to greet her on the glowing cell phone screen, and the only reason she even had Seifer's number was because he gave it to her promptly before he left with Vivi and Rai earlier.

She scoffed as she dismissed the phone to her pocket once more. It wasn't like she cared. Phone calls or texting weren't the quiet girl's style anyway. For a brief moment, she wondered if Hayner had a cell phone. Or if she'd ever have a chance at getting it from him. Or if-

She quickly silenced the novel thought and bit her tongue, cursing herself for thinking of the wretched boy. Why would she even have reason to like him anyways? He was the one who cost her team the game. He was the one who ruined her face for a week with a rubber dodgeball. And he was the arch-nemesis of her friend and leader, Seifer. The blonde was an enemy, both professionally and privately.

While many people around her were having trouble traversing through the deep sand, Fuu's small, light feet floated on top of the sand as she searched for her friends. She hadn't received a text from Seifer yet, so she presumed that they were still searching for a spot. Judging from the unusual thickness of crowds this particular day, she wouldn't be surprised if they _never _called.

But Fuu didn't want to keep walking and searching for hours. She decided to rest somewhere for a bit while waiting for Seifer's message. However, all of the benches around her were filled by either giggling groups of girls or overconfident packs of teenage boys. Also, there were very few empty spots on the sand. Most of the beach's sandy space was swallowed up by fellow teenagers, playing volleyball on makeshift courts or laughing and conversing around a barbecue pit.

She recognized Tidus and Wakka practicing their blitzball moves by the shore, clumsily kicking the bumpy ball to and fro. Fuu didn't approach them, simply because she had no interest in them. But deep inside, she was also painfully awkward due to her minimalist manner of speech.

Because of the fact she didn't talk much, she never made a lot of friends throughout her childhood, and had no deep bonds with anyone outside her family. The only exceptions were Seifer, Rai, and Vivi, who, through some miracle, been able to connect with the girl without needing to go through hours of (in her opinion) "useless small talk". She was happy that they accepted the fact that she didn't talk much, and she liked to think they preferred her this way. Many of their conversations were one-sided, with Rai and Seifer being the most conversational while she and Vivi stood off to the side, listening. That's how their dynamic had always been and would continue to be, and she didn't mind. Besides, other than Rai and sometimes Seifer, she hated loudmouths anyway.

But in that case, why did she suddenly find herself thinking about…him? She had no previous reason to like him, nor a current reason. They'd had no personal interaction with each other, beside the occasional sneers they'd exchange while passing in the hall, or the offhand comments they'd say behind each other's backs.

They were polar opposites, as well: she was a silent girl with so much on her mind, while he was a loudmouthed fool, with probably nothing in his thick skull. She was very conservative, while he was practically made up of body language. The only time she ever came close to smiling was when she smirked, and Hayner…always smiled.

Of course, his smile was never directed at her, but she saw it constantly. He had that toothy grin plastered on his face after every Struggle he won, every terrible joke he told, and for every cute girl he saw. Come to think of it, Fuu wondered if Hayner didn't smile at her simply because she was affiliated with Seifer. Or maybe it was because he didn't think she was cute.

Not that she cared.

…Or at least she _tried_ not to.

Now that she thought about it, Hayner had the most peculiar smile: bright, white teeth revealed by a wide grin. Few people she knew had a smile as sincere as Hayner's, and she probably saw him smile a hundred time more than any of her own friends. Absent-mindlessly, she sighed wistfully as she continued floating forward on the soft sand.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she came across a large clearing in the beach. It would've been a perfect place for Seifer to train: no annoying people, no stinky trash, and it was close to the shore. She thought about texting Seifer herself and telling him about the spot, but then she noticed a peculiarly large shape of sand about ten meters away from her. She squinted her red eye at the shape and soon realized that it wasn't sand, but that it was a human head. At first, she dismissed it as an illusion caused by the heat: a mirage. But then she saw the head _move_. It was struggling, even, as if trying to free itself from the sand. Most likely, it was some dumb ass kid who got buried in the sand and was left there as a practical joke. One of the reasons she didn't like, nor trust people.

She was about to leave the poor fool there, when she heard a familiar voice call out: "Somebody help! Please!"

She turned on her sandaled heel back towards the source, and realized the voice was coming from the buried boy. He had slicked back blonde hair. His voice had a slightly annoying cadence to it. _Him?_

"Roxas, Pence, Olette! I'll kill you, you bastards!"

It was him, all right.

She debated whether or not to approach him. She hated him, after , she was _supposed _to, anyway. She scoffed, turned on her heel away from the head, and started walking back towards civilization. _To hell with him, and leave him here to be swallowed up by the approaching waves! _

But something in the back of her head told her to stay. And help him. She tried to just leave the yelling boy alone, but every step away from him made her feel…guilty. Was it her conscience, the little Jiminy Cricket she never knew she had? Or did she…_want_ to help him?

…Fuu exhaled deeply, and, turning on her heel once more, approached the annoying, screaming head sticking out of the sand.


	8. A Hole In the Sand, Part 2

"Roxas, Pence, Olette, if you don't come back, you fuckers, I'll be so pissed!" Hayner yelled at the top of his lungs, "I've been here for thirty minutes now, joke's over!"

He waited and…nothing. No one was within hearing distance, and even if they were, the sounds of the crashing waves would've muffled his pleas. He exhaled, frustrated. Maybe they were busy. Maybe they forgot where he had been buried. Maybe they had really left him. Maybe they had finally gotten tired of him, and abandoned him. He frowned, furrowing his brow at the thought.

He didn't _believe_ he was a bad person, but he knew that sometimes, he could be a bit much. Like the time he had pantsed Pence while he was talking up a girl at school that they both really liked. Or the time he deleted all of the songs off Roxas's MP3 player and replaced them with 600 tracks of Nyan Cat. Or the time he "accidentally" walked in on Olette while she was changing in her room and got an eyeful of her nakedness (and hairspray, of course). But other than those times and multiple other moments, he didn't believe he was a bad person.

…Okay, maybe he was. But he only did it because in the end, he didn't have much to talk about. Sure, he always made a topic out of girls or his hatred for Seifer, but other than that, he was kind of an awkward guy. Hell, he couldn't talk to a cute girl if he tried. All he could do was smile and scuttle away if his fake wall of charm didn't work. The only cute girl he didn't smile at and flirt with was Fuu, and that was because she was the enemy. And if he tried anything, he'd probably suffer the same ball-breaking fate as Pence (he had been in the school infirmary with him that day, and the sight wasn't pretty).

Come to think of it, he didn't ever interact with the girl personally. Well, besides the occasional glare or jeer. Not that he _wanted_ to talk to the girl. Hell, she was so quiet and intimidating, he'd choose to talk to a wall before her.

On the other hand, she was prettier than a wall. _Much_ prettier. Her neat, white hair, slender body, heart shaped face, and even her single crimson eye held some beauty. A lot of beauty, in fact. If he could, he'd probably stare into her shimmering crimson eye all day…

Too bad she was on the wrong side.

Suddenly, he heard the quiet shuffle of sandals against sand behind him. At first, he suspected it was his friends, but he heard only one set of feet walk towards him. He couldn't turn his head due to his position, and could only guess who it was. Seifer, who had seen him and come to finish him off before their Struggle? If it was, he couldn't fight back: he was trapped in his sand prison.

"Yo."

He let out an uncharacteristically girly yelp before realizing that the voice wasn't masculine, but feminine. And very lovely. He felt the person was standing right above him, and looked up to see a single red eye.

_Her?_

What was she doing here? And where was Seifer, Rai, and Vivi? Wait, was she…alone? In that case, how did she find him? And why did she approach him? So many questions to ask, but only one word left Hayner's parched throat, "Yo."

A wave of uncomfortable silence followed, echoing with the noise of screaming men, women, and children in the distance. Not a single word was uttered between the two for a long moment.

Fuu broke the silence with a single word, "Why?"

"Uh, why?" Hayner repeated, not completely understanding Fuu's question. Although, after a moment, Hayner realized the only thing that Fuu could possibly be asking about, and he felt like a dumbass for not knowing it before. He sighed, "You mean, why am I buried in the sand?"

She nodded, and Hayner struggled to explain, "Well, ya see…uh, the others were here-y'know, Roxas, Pence, Olette, those guys- anyway, they…buried me here and whaddya know? They left me. Just packed up camp, ran away, and left my head poking out in the middle of nowhere, just because they're no good lousy-"

Hayner stopped himself when he realized that he was ranting. He stared up at Fuu's face, slightly embarrassed that he let himself go off so easily. "I talk a 'lil too much, huh?"

"Yep."

"Yeah, I know."

Fuu walked around Hayner's head to stand to the immediate left of him, and he couldn't say he didn't enjoy the view. She wore white cargo shorts that ended just above her knees, so he could see her slender legs move gracefully and silently around him. Then, she sat down on the sand, crossing her legs in front of her and resting her hands in her lap. However, her back remained straight as a board, as if she were in the military.

As Fuu was getting herself situated, Hayner figured if he glimpsed at the right time, he could see under her shorts, but he knew if she caught him, he wouldn't even be a head in the sand: he'd be a headless body stuck in the sand and a decapitated head sent airborne by a galactic punt.

A few more moments of silence passed, with Hayner staring at Fuu in confusion and Fuu staring back with what seemed to be total objectivity. Her sight didn't waver, her lips didn't crinkle into a frown or smile, and she didn't even seem to be breathing at some points. The only movement Hayner could observe was the fluttering of her silver hair with the ocean breeze.

He wondered what conditioner she used. Or even if she _used_ conditioner. That would be a weird question, and it'd seem slightly strange and perverted of him. Regardless, it looked soft. Did it feel soft, too..?

He felt like he was staring too much, so he broke eye contact and looked down at the yellow granules of sand just beneath his chin. Somewhere beneath this sand there was a body, and somewhere in that body was a heart that was going crazy right now.

He attempted to steady it as he broke the silence.

"So…er…whaddya doing here? At the beach, I mean?"

"Training."

"Lemme guess, Seifer?"

A slight nod that was neither polite nor dismissive. Should've been obvious, Hayner thought. A girl like Fuu wouldn't go anywhere this crowded unless she was obligated to by that meathead. He wondered why _he_ chose to come down here of all places to train, when the sandlot was a perfectly good training ground. Maybe he also knew it was the last good beach day, and he was trying to take advantage of it like everyone else. It was funny, thinking a rebel like Seifer had the same mindset as everyone else.

Hayner looked back up at Fuu. A fair hand was on her chin now, and she seemed to be observing a hermit crab that was crawling at a considerable speed toward Hayner's left ear. "Aagh!" Hayner instinctively felt himself jerk back, although he was still trapped in his sand prison.

Right when the arachnid was about to make a home out of Hayner's ear canal, Fuu snatched up the crab and tossed it lightly towards the ocean shore, watching it scuttle off toward the water.

"Thanks for the save," said Hayner, laughing a bit nervously, "Dude was about to make a home in my head. I wonder why?"

"Hollow."

"Huh?" Hayner didn't get the joke at first, until he saw Fuu's signature smirk grace her face. He cried, "H-hey! That's not a nice thing to say!" Realizing who he was talking to, he added, "Although, you're not the type to say nice things, are you?"

She didn't reply, and Hayner didn't expect her to. So the two sat in silence, watching the waves crash against the shore, the cries of seagulls filling the air. The sound of crashing waves was almost hypnotic, and in this unbroken silence, Hayner would've been lulled to sleep. Probably would've been bad if he did, since his face would fall into the sand in front of him and he'd suffocate. But still, the beach ambience was getting to him, and he yawned loudly.

A moment later, he noticed that Fuu was now yawning as well, although she masked her open mouth with a slender hand, her red eye fluttering shut, then open again. He couldn't help but laugh.

She shot an annoyed and confused look down at him, "What?"

"I dunno, it's just funny how yawning is so…what's the word?"

"Contagious?" Fuu offered.

"Yeah, that's it!" Hayner said. Come to think of it, that was the longest word he had ever heard her say. Well, besides _annihilation_.

They returned back to silence, and this quiet state was slowly starting to grow more…comfortable. Hayner no longer felt the need to break it with awkward small talk or observations, and Fuu was…well, as far as Hayner knew, Fuu was content with this from the start. After all, utter silence was her most common mode of operation.

But he still wanted to know why she had stayed here for so long. The first thing he expected her to do was take advantage of his dire situation and kick sand in his face, or put a bucket on his head, and then be on her merry way back to Seifer. But, surprisingly, she was still here, watching the ocean with him.

It was then he realized she had a plastic bag next to her.

"Wuzzat?" he asked non-eloquently.

Fuu glanced at the bag, and an unfitting shock of realization passed over her face. She muttered something to herself and stood up.

"What was that?" Hayner asked. But Fuu didn't respond, and instead started to walk away from him.

"H-hey!" he cried, "Where ya goin'!?"

But in moments she was gone, leaving Hayner puzzled, and a bit sad.

* * *

><p>How could Fuu have forgotten? She was supposed to be back at Seifer's with the sea salts. By now, they were probably melted, and he'd be pissed. She looked at her phone. Five messages.<p>

_32 mins ago Fuu, it's Seifer. Make sure you get two for Rai, k? We'll spot you when you get back._

_27 mins ago We found a spot by Lifeguard Tower 3, you should be able to see us!_

_16 mins ago Fuu, get here quick, I'm starving!_

_10 mins ago Where are you?_

_5 mins ago Fuu?_

Crap, there were also two missed calls. She tried to call back Seifer, but her signal was too low to connect. Stupid prehistoric, prepaid phone. She looked around. The nearest lifeguard tower was number 7, and given the far spacing between each tower, she was very far from the others. Maybe if she ran, she could get there in time, but it was very uncharacteristic of her. Maybe Seifer would understand. Although what would there be to understand, other than that she was late and wouldn't pick up her phone?

Oh, god, what if they wanted to know why? Would she tell them the truth, that she was with Hayner, or would she have to come up with some lie? She wasn't the type to lie, but if they knew about Hayner…

She stopped in her tracks.

What _was_ there to know? Nothing! Absolutely nothing was going on between them, and Fuu was making such a big deal out of it! He was just some stupid, smiling, happy-go-lucky jackass who she couldn't help but think about all the time. And why? Because-.

"Fuu!"

She looked behind her and, of all people, Roxas, Pence, and Olette ran up to her.

They all were out of breath, and looked very worried.

Catching her breath, the brunette girl asked, "Have you, by any chance, seen Hayner?"

The fat one added, "Yeah, seen any sunburnt heads sticking out of the sand lately?"

"Pence!" The girl snapped.

"What!? He's probably got a sunburn by now!"

"Or he's dead." deadpanned Roxas.

"Can both of you just shut up?" said Olette, "This isn't funny anymore. We seriously need to find him, guys. He could be dehydrated, or somebody could've tripped over him."

The two boys snickered at the thought, to which the girl slapped them both on their heads, "Ow!"

"Idiots."

A strange bunch, Fuu thought. She was most amused that the girl seemed to hold the most power in the group. It was a nice change of pace from what she was used to.

The girl then turned back to Fuu, "Look, we kind of…buried Hayner in the sand and left him there as a joke, but we can't find him anymore. We know we were around Tower 7, but we just can't…"

Fuu was surprised. There was a genuine glint of worry in the girl's eyes. In all of their eyes, actually. Joking aside, they all were concerned for the wellbeing of their friend. Not at all different from her relationship with Seifer, Rai, and Vivi.

She looked back towards where she was walking from. If she squinted, she could make out the annoying blond head again.

…

"Follow me."


End file.
